1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to animal restraining devices, and more particularly, to an animal restraining device for easily holding and providing access to the animal to enable testing to be implemented without harm to either the animal or test personnel, and a method of performing same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various devices are known in the art for restraining animals to facilitate testing of or injecting an animal without harm while minimizing the risk of biting or scratching test personnel and the consequent transfer of disease. In this regard, U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,160 discloses a positioning device for holding an animal during electromagnetic analysis. The apparatus comprises an elongated cylindrical tube having an open-ended, resilient inner sleeve member with a slit running lengthwise through the peripheral wall of the tube. An elongate constricting assembly is disposed around the inner sleeve member to engage and selectively apply radially inward compression against the inner sleeve member. The assembly is constructed from non-conductive materials to permit electromagnetic energy to pass therethrough with minimal attenuation. A rodent is placed within the sleeve to thereby restrain the same during testing. This arrangement does not provide a means of obtaining access to the body of the animal.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,471,701 discloses a poultry bag for restraining a chicken. The device includes a soft bag having a head opening at one end and a foot opening at an opposite end. The chicken is wrapped with the bag and a quick tying band is secured around the feet of the animal. The neck is tightly engaged with the head exposed to permit free breathing. There are no provisions in the bag for providing access to the body of the animal. Moreover, the mouth of the animal is exposed thereby creating a risk of biting a human.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,137,870 discloses a wrap-around animal restraint comprised of a pair of sheets cut so as to have a wide first end and narrower second end. The sheets are united along a common longitudinal edge and, at the wider end, at a portion along another longitudinal edge. In this manner, the wider end forms a bag with the free portions of the sheets wrapped around the animal in selective overlapping relation in accordance with the size of the animal to form a neck band near the head of the animal and a tight confining wrap around the body. Flap covered openings are disposed at spaced locations to permit access to the body of the animal for treatment. As with the '701 Patent, the mouth of the animal is unshielded.
None of the prior art provides an animal restraining device which provides for easy placement of the animal into a restrained orientation without exerting undesirable pressure on any particular portion of the body while allowing easy access to a plurality of locations on the body yet minimizing the risk of scratching or biting. Thus, there exists a need for an improved animal restraining device having a design which is simple, cheap to manufacture, easy to use, and can be adapted for a variety of animal types and sizes.